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22
It will thus be seen that the estimated number of old people will
have increased from just over thirty thousand now to nearly fifty
thousand in 40 years time.
It must not be assumed that more than a very small proportion of
old people require help. The vast majority of them would in fact spurn
it, as they like to feel independent, but as old age increases so frailty and
illness increases and as a result an enlarging proportion of old people
require some sort of help according to the age they have reached.
Further, the proportion of old people who work after they become of
pensionable age varies according to particular circumstances. At the
moment, when increased production is required, there is a considerable
propaganda movement to keep old people in industry. I am quite sure,
however, that should there be anything corresponding to the slump
which occurred between the wars the propaganda would be reversed and
old people would be unemployed when they reached pensionable age.
There are two other general considerations: with the smaller families
which have become increasingly common in the last half-century there
are less grown-up children to look after the old person and therefore
the chances of the old person being left on his own are considerably
increased. Secondly, even though the proportion of old people who
require help may be small, or very small (and no-one knows at the
moment what it really is), when we are dealing with a matter of thirty
to fifty thousand old people even a "very small" proportion might
well mean some thousands.
Help to old people can be of various kinds, some of which is obtainable
through voluntary agencies and some of which can be given by the
local authority, whether it be the local health authority (i.e., the L.C.C.)
or the local sanitary authority (i.e., the borough council). There are
at least 20 local agencies (possibly many more) who are interested in
the care of old people, and in 1947 the Lewisham Old People's Welfare
Council was formed, and included representatives of most of these
agencies. This Council, in spite of many difficulties, financial and
otherwise, has made a start in the care of old people and by the end of
1948 it had organised a small "Meals on Wheels" service. There are,
however, many other ways in which the Old People's Council and other
local agencies can help old people. As far as the health department is
concerned, such help might be of great benefit in postponing for a
considerable time, if not indefinitely, the date when an old person
becomes a burden on his or her friends, relatives or neighbours, and
may, as a result, require admission to hospital or a home.
I put forward a comprehensive report on old people to the Health
committee at its meeting on December 13, 1948 and as a result a grant
was made to the Lewisham Old People's Welfare Council in order to
allow them to continue with their "Meals on Wheels" service and
further consideration to their claims was promised.
Water supply
I am indebted to the Director of Water Examination and the Clerk
of the Metropolitan Water Board for the information on which the
following report on Lewisham's water supply is based.